1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to apparatus and method for advertising products and services on a banner and, more specifically to a frame for holding a banner containing an advertisement to a panel of a truck or the wall of a building.
2. Description of Related Art
There are several types of frames or holders for mounting banners containing advertisements on support structures, such as trucks and building wall which are known in the art. More specifically, by way of example U.S. PreGrant Publication No. 2008/0024892 to Macsenti relates to an elongated housing containing a gripper roller which is used to grip and retain the edge of a banner in the housing. The housing includes tapered front and rear walls which define a chamber for the roller and which is open at its lower end. When an edge of the banner is inserted into the chamber via the lower opening, the gripper roller presses the banner edge against the rear surface of the front wall to suspend the banner from the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,406,788 to Uccello relates to fixed and floating rails adapted hold elongated locks having sign edges wrapped around non-rotating inserts, and tensioning means for tensioning signs locked in the rails, which tensioning means may be a series of short levering mechanisms spaced along and connectable to the floating rails.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,206,908 to Devaney relates to an upper frame mounted on a support structure, such as a truck, building, or billboard with, three adjustable frame assemblies and sheet material having an upper sheet tab inserted into the upper frame, and lower, right, and left sheet tabs inserted into the adjustable frame assemblies. The frame assemblies can be adjusted to vary the tension in the sheet material between the upper frame and the adjustable frame assemblies. The method includes the steps of inserting the upper sheet tab into the upper frame, inserting the right, left, and lower sheet tabs into the adjustable frame assemblies, and adjusting the adjustable frame assemblies so that the sheet material is pulled taut between the upper frame and the adjustable frame assemblies.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,178,281 to Johansson, et al. relates to a fabric sign having a pair of parallel support elements for attachment to a base and a fabric having two parallel edge portions for assembly on the support elements. One of the support elements has an inner wall section, an outer, flange-like wall section with a free supporting end to form a pivot, and an end wall section that connects the inner and outer wall sections. The wall sections form a clamping pocket for clamping the fabric to the frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,082 to Richards, et al. relates to frame members which form a rectangle where each frame member includes parallel engagement surfaces on ribs. An elongate retainer includes an elongate flange with an interlocking surface which can selectively interlock with any one of the engagement surfaces on the frame. The frame also has a frame rail having a rail surface. A tool having pinch rollers squeezes the rail surfaces toward one another to place the sheet material held by the retainer in tension while the interlocking surface is engaged with the appropriate engagement surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,859 to Kilpatrick, et al. relates to a frame element assembly having a base portion and a retaining leaf where the retaining leaf is pivotally mounted with respect to the base portion and is held in a pivotal arrangement by a bow spring. In use the retaining leaf can pivot between an “open” position in which display material can be inserted or removed from the display holder and a “closed” position in which display material is retained within the display holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,057 to Pynenburg relates to a holder having two longitudinal extruded panels each having a longitudinal C-shaped flange situated along one of the panel edges. One flange is inserted within the other one to form a longitudinal interlocking hinge connection. The panels are movable with respect to each other in a transverse direction about the hinge between an open and a closed position. The flanges are dimensioned in such a way that rotation of the panels with respect to one another in the transverse direction results in one of the flanges being elastically deformed during the first part of the motion, with the resulting stored elastic energy being abruptly released during the second part of the panel motion to snap open or close the holder. In the fully open position the holder forms a well defined receiving mouth for inserting or removing a poster to eliminate the problem of the poster being pinched.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,586 to Hillstrom relates to a frame that has a base portion which is attached to a building or surface and a spring loaded rotating cover portion which covers a channel in the base. A plurality of inner slidingly adjustable hook members and a pair of outer clip lock members positioned in the channel hold a banner in place. The banner has a plurality of mating holes or apertures along one edge and hangs from the hook and lock members in the frame device. Once the banner is positioned on the hooks, the cover portion is closed to retain the banner in place.